


Papergate

by viv_is_spooky



Series: In the Public Eye [1]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Politics, American Politics, Crack Treated Seriously, Elections, Gen, M/M, Other, events somewhat mirror canon but are more mundane, i might never finish this, set in the US
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:14:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23391544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viv_is_spooky/pseuds/viv_is_spooky
Summary: Jurgen Leitner is president, Mary Keay is vice-president, and Gertrude Robinson is the Democratic presidential candidate for a fast-approaching election. Eric and Gerry want no part in all the political drama, wary of the corruption and hunger for power that seep through it. They get pulled into it anyway.
Relationships: Eric Delano & Gerard Keay
Series: In the Public Eye [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1682527
Kudos: 21





	Papergate

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first of of some one-shots/concepts for character interactions based in a political au for TMA. Nobody dies, except maybe of embarrassment.

Jurgen Leitner had never been the most well-liked president. Born to tremendous wealth, he had no reason to actively look out for the nation’s people. So, eccentric, and bored, he used the cloak of his supposed moral code to justify actions born of a dangerous hubris. When he issued an executive order opening the closed stacks of the national library to the public, he framed it as a benevolent action meant to “gift more knowledge to the American people.” And perhaps, in his own way, he truly believed that.

The thing about hubris, though, is that its presence makes one inclined to throw caution to the wayside. It makes one inclined to overlook important details. After all, expanding public access to all areas of _anywhere_ is a dangerous action to take without the implementation of a proportional increase in supervision and security measures. President Leitner learned that lesson the hard way two weeks after his grand announcement, when a group of arsonists took advantage of the new lack of restrictions by setting fire to a few unattended books. The flames spread so quickly that by the time they had been put out, half of the valuable resources in the library had been reduced to ash.

And with that, Leitner went from being a vaguely-disliked president to being a president towards which almost the entire nation felt hatred. The destruction of his overblown pride had come at the cost of irreplaceable knowledge, and that was something few people could forgive him for.

***

Though she stood at Leitner’s side in presence, Vice President Mary Keay had a tendency to get quietly lost in her own visions of the future instead of listening to what the old man had to say. She had never seen him as anything more than an obstacle to what she wanted: _power_. The Oval Office all to herself, the nation in the palm of her hand…yes, it was power she wanted.

In the aftermath of what the press had taken to calling “Papergate,” she began to feel her chance to obtain that power slip away from her as Leitner’s chances for reelection dwindled. So she decided to take matters into her own hands, to attempt to take full control of the White House. How? By killing Leitner, of course, and then finding a way to pin the blame on someone else. The question was… who?

***

After seeing how involvement in politics affected his (now ex-) wife, Eric Delano had done his best to turn a blind eye to the world of elections and campaigns. So, when Gertrude Robinson first approached him and asked him to be her running mate for the Democratic party, Eric said no. He had worked for Gertrude before; he knew how she operated, how ruthless she could be when justifying the means to her ends. He wanted no part in that, not ever again.

Eric’s attempts to bury his head in the sand ended with President Leitner’s fall from grace. He saw the nation plunge into turmoil, and when Gertrude approached him again with the same question she had previously, he said yes. He couldn’t ignore the crisis raging around him – couldn’t leave people to tear each other apart.

And ruthless or not, Gertrude got shit done. That was more than most modern politicians could say about themselves.

***

Gerard Delano-Keay absolutely _despised_ politics, hated them _almost_ as much as he hated the hyphen in his legal last name.

He treated those two things in an almost identical fashion – they were to be avoided, but he wouldn’t give anyone the satisfaction of watching him struggle to change them. There were other, more important battles to fight in his life.

Nonetheless, he tried to keep up with current events, if only to be armed with a few conversation points to make should any strangers attack him with small talk. When he turned on the news the day of “Papergate” he sat and stared in shocked silence for 10 straight minutes that felt like 10 hours. The loss of all that knowledge, the sheer magnitude of the mistake that idiot Leitner had made…he felt like somebody had just slammed him into a brick wall.

Gerard – Gerry, as his father called him, – probably would have remained in shock for longer if his buzzing phone hadn’t startled him back into the conscious world. The caller ID read “Dad,” so Gerry answered it. Of _course_ he answered it.

By the end of the call, a mix of exchanged words of comfort; confusion; and explanations, Gerry found himself agreeing to work on Gertrude Robinson’s campaign. No amount of distaste or disgust could dissuade him from the choice – his father needed him there, needed an anchor in the chaos to come.

Gerard Delano ~~-Keay~~ _despised_ politics, but he _loved_ his father. And between hate and love, he would always choose the latter.


End file.
